Rik Mayall

I am so very sad at the passing of Rik Mayall earlier today, aged just 56.

Rik was perhaps the greatest comedian of his generation, from a rich vintage that included Rowan Atkinson, Ade Edmonson and Ben Elton. There aren’t many people who have ever stolen the show when appearing on screen with Rowan Atkinson, but in Blackadder with Lord Flashheart, Rik did so effortlessly.

He first came to my attention with the character of Kevin Turvey in A Kick Up The Eighties:

In 1982 The Young Ones exploded onto our screens, including this memorable scene with Motorhead.

Then came Bad News from The Comic Strip Presents….

I nearly saw Bad News play Donington in 1986, but in the event only heard them, as the coach I was on was delayed in traffic and they left the stage just as I entered the field. However, a few years later I saw them play Reading Festival, when Brian May joined them onstage for perhaps the most shambolic cover of Bohemian Rhapsody it is possible to imagine….

There’s so many more memories. Bottom, Comic Strip Presents, Alan B’Stard in The New Statesman, and that scene stealing role as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder II amongst many others:

Everything he did was funny, he never did anything that wasn’t funny, and it all had the most amazing effect on me as I grew up. He was one of us, and he will be greatly missed.

4 replies

Couldn’t agree more, although I grew a little tired of the shouty stuff as I got older, Kevin Turvey – to an impressionable 13 year old was a game changer – absolute genius, as were the Young Ones… It’s hard to explain today, but back then, there was a real buzz around school in anticipation of the shows… what have the poor sods got to look forward to now? Simon fuckin Cowell and Co.

Flashheart is one of the greatest characters in British comedy history… only a fleeting glimpse, but electric, loud, dare I say sexy (his chemistry with Queenie and Bob was superb) and as always perfectly timed… Woof!

Treat your plane like a women… get in her 3 times a day and take her to heaven and back =D

So sad to learn of this, Mayall was great at everything. Here in Canada, I missed a lot of his work, but have seen severely edited clips of Young Ones, Bottom and I have a fuzzy recollection of the name Alan B’Stard. At least Lord Flashheart made it here uncut.
R.I.P. RIK so fitting he pulled an Oscar Wilde “it’s-me-or-this-wallpaper” as his last statement;

"Opening my very own Twitter to stop another bastard from doing it. So fuck off & don't expect to hear from me any time soon. Love Rik x"